Giant Dipper Lick Pier

The Giant Dipper is one of 7 Prior & Church designed "Bobs" twisters that opened along the amusement piers of California between 1923 and 1925. All of these coasters had heights of between 70 and 80 feet with first drops of around 70 feet. The trains all had newer two-seater cars with flanged wheels that were connected by ball and socket couplings that could negotiate the tight turns and sharp direction changes.

The Lick Pier Giant Dipper of 1924 was essentially a replacement for the Giant Dipper of 1923 that burned after being operational for just 7 months on the nearby Pickering Pier. Also destroyed was the 75 foot tall Zip coaster designed by John Miller. The entire Lick pier was quickly rebuilt with the newer 1924 Giant Dipper opening in a location further south near the location of the previous Zip coaster. The layout of the 1924 Giant Dipper looks to have been almost the same as the 1923 Giant Dipper.

The Lick Pier Giant Dipper lift hill rose to a height of 78 feet above the pier or 100 feet above the ocean level. Like many of the Prior & Church Bobs coasters, the Giant Dipper's second hill consisted of a beautiful 65 foot tall fan curve that led down into a 45 foot second drop that curved in an S-shaped path back up and alongside the main lift hill. The station roof was a duplicate of the station roof used for the Riverview Bobs and a long tunnel led from the station to the lift hill.